Confederate emblem remains on Mississippi flag as bills die

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi lawmakers have killed bills that would remove the Confederate battle emblem from the last state flag in the U.S. to display it.

But they’re also rejecting measures that would require universities opposed to the emblem to fly the banner.

The emblem has appeared on the Mississippi state flag since 1894. Critics say it’s racist; those who oppose removing it say it’s a historic symbol.

All eight Mississippi public universities and several cities and counties have stopped flying the flag. Many removed it after June 2015, when a white supremacist killed nine black worshippers in a South Carolina church.

Mississippi House Rules Committee Chairman Jason White says there’s no consensus to either change or further protect the flag.

More than a dozen flag bills died because they weren’t considered before a Tuesday deadline.